The European Parliament adopted by 301 votes to 249, with 25 abstentions, a resolution on a European strategy for low-emission mobility in response to the Commission communication on the subject.

While welcoming the Commission’s communication, Parliament stressed the fact that to abide by the Paris Agreement, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transport will need to be near zero by mid-century, and that air pollutant emissions from transport will need to be drastically reduced .

Road transport is responsible for more than 70% of GHG emissions and much of the air pollution. Action should be focused predominantly in this area, while efforts to reduce emissions should be intensified in all transport sectors.

Fair and efficient pricing : Members considered that clearer price signals across all transport modes which better reflect the polluter-pays and user-pays principles are essential. A modal shift in transport requires investment in multimodality and public transport.

Parliament welcomed the Commission’s efforts at developing standards for interoperable electronic tolling systems in the EU, as well as the forthcoming revision of the Eurovignette Directive (Directive 1999/62/EC). They believed that the extension of distance-based charging should cover all passenger cars and vans, while allowing for some form of flexibility for remote and sparsely populated areas.

As regards the aviation sector , the Commission is called on to explore the possibilities for harmonised international measures for kerosene taxation for aviation and the removal of the VAT exemption on air passenger tickets.

Logistics and digitalisation : Parliament stressed the role of digitalisation in sustainable mobility. It considered that intelligent transport systems, platooning and autonomous and connected vehicles could constitute an important asset in improving the efficiency of both individual and commercial transport.

It called for a coherent legislative framework and standards that will allow innovative logistical and transport solutions to be deployed throughout Europe.

Members called on the Commission to encourage the use of zero-emissions light-duty commercial vehicles, zero-emissions buses, waste trucks, taxis and freight bicycles in last mile logistics.

Low-emission alternative energy : Parliament called on the Commission to adopt an ambitious action plan for the market uptake of electric vehicles and to issue Member States with guiding recommendations to encourage them to implement fiscal incentives for zero- and low-emission vehicles. The availability of charging and refuelling infrastructure , and the competitiveness of electric vehicles, are essential for increasing consumer acceptance. Members wanted to see a long-term European initiative on next-generation batteries as well as for the development of the necessary infrastructure.

Parliament called for a more ambitious approach for renewables in transport than that proposed in the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive. It called for specific incentives be put in place for the deployment of sustainable alternative fuels for those transport modes that currently have no alternatives to liquid fuel.

The Commission should:

propose the phasing-out of direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020 at the latest; support the potential of LNG to render mobility, the economy and employment sustainable; develop objective criteria for the recognition of advanced biofuels in order to stimulate innovation and market uptake; commit to a feasibility study on the role and possibilities of hydrogen in the European transport system;

Transport infrastructure and investment : Parliament urged the intensification of EU cofinancing of transport projects that contribute to climate action and the minimisation of other external costs, in the framework of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and the TEN-T.

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) projects are key for the European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility. Members asked for the CEF budget to be restored , with EFSI II financed from other sources. Members also urged the Commission to make more funds available for cities to bid jointly for infrastructure or technologies that would contribute to reducing air pollution from road vehicles, including public recharging stations for electric vehicles.

Empowering citizens and decision-makers towards behavioural change : taking into account the failure of European standards for light-duty vehicles to reflect real-world emissions, Parliament suggested to examine the benefits of introducing a label or standard for Ultra Low-Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) that would meet emission limit values in real driving conditions.

It also called on the Commission to:

pay greater attention to the increased integration of non-motorised modes of transport and their increased attractiveness; prioritise EU cofinancing of urban mobility projects which contribute to achieving GHG reduction targets; incentivise the purchase of cleaner, less polluting vehicles by both public authorities and private fleets; include the transport needs of citizens in rural and remote areas in its strategies for low-emission mobility; invest more in the integration of the EuroVelo Cycling Network with the TEN-T rail networks.

The resolution analysed specific sectoral trends for different transport modes. It looked at cars, heavy-duty vehicles, railways, aviation, maritime transport and inland waterways.

The Commission has been invited, inter alia , to:

submit a proposal on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans by 2025; come up with a proposal on the certification, monitoring and reporting of HDVs by the end of 2017, as well as with ambitious 2025 CO2 standards by 2018; submit ambitious proposals for the Combined Transport Directive to better promote efficient freight transport and encourage a modal shift to rail and inland waterways; improve the efficiency of aviation by ensuring the rapid application of the single European sky and by participating actively in the work of ICAO to achieve ambitious international CO2 standards.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the own-initiative report by Bas EICKHOUT (Greens/EFA, NL) on a European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility in response to the Commission communication on the subject.

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, exercising its prerogatives as an associated committee under Rule 54 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure , also gave its opinion on the report.

The committee welcomed the Commission’s communication and stressed the fact that to abide by the Paris Agreement, GHG emissions from transport will need to be near zero by mid-century, and that air pollutant emissions from transport will need to be drastically reduced if the WHO public health guidelines, at the very least, are to be met without delay.

Fair and efficient pricing : Members considered that clearer price signals across all transport modes which better reflect the polluter-pays and user-pays principles are essential. A modal shift in transport requires investment in multimodality and public transport.

The report welcomed the Commission’s efforts at developing standards for interoperable electronic tolling systems in the EU, as well as the forthcoming revision of the Eurovignette Directive (Directive 1999/62/EC). They believed that the extension of distance-based charging should cover all passenger cars and vans, while allowing for some form of flexibility for remote and sparsely populated areas.

Logistics and digitalisation : the report stressed the role of digitalisation in sustainable mobility. It considered that intelligent transport systems, platooning and autonomous and connected vehicles could constitute an important asset in improving the efficiency of both individual and commercial transport. Members called on the Commission to encourage the use of zero-emissions light-duty commercial vehicles, zero-emissions buses, waste trucks, taxis and freight bicycles in last mile logistics.

Low-emission alternative energy : the report called on the Commission to adopt an ambitious action plan for the market uptake of electric vehicles and to issue Member States with guiding recommendations to encourage them to implement fiscal incentives for zero- and low-emission vehicles. The availability of charging and refuelling infrastructure , and the competitiveness of electric vehicles, are essential for increasing consumer acceptance. Members wanted to see a long-term European initiative on next-generation batteries as well as for the development of the necessary infrastructure.

They asked the Commission to propose the phasing-out of direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020 at the latest. Whilst taking note of the limits proposed in the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive with a view to phasing down first generation biofuels by 2030, the report called on the Commission, to distinguish between first-generation biofuels with high GHG efficiency and a low risk of indirect land use change and those which do not meet those criteria, and to take measures to phase out the use of feedstocks , including palm oil, that drive deforestation or the use of peat land, as a component of biofuels.

Transport infrastructure and investment : Members urged the intensification of EU cofinancing of transport projects that contribute to climate action and the minimisation of other external costs , in the framework of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and the TEN-T. They felt that Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) projects are key for the European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility, and asked for the CEF budget to be restored, with EFSI II financed from other sources. Members urged the Commission to make more funds available for cities to bid jointly for infrastructure or technologies that would contribute to reducing air pollution from road vehicles, including public recharging stations for electric vehicles.

Empowering citizens and decision-makers towards behavioural change : the committee asked the Commission and the Member States, taking into account the failure of European standards for light-duty vehicles to reflect real-world emissions, to examine the benefits of introducing a label or standard for Ultra Low-Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) that would meet emission limit values in real driving conditions.

It also called on the Commission to:

prioritise EU cofinancing of urban mobility projects which contribute to achieving GHG reduction targets; incentivise the purchase of cleaner, less polluting vehicles by both public authorities and private fleets; include the transport needs of citizens in rural and remote areas in its strategies for low-emission mobility; invest more in the integration of the EuroVelo Cycling Network with the TEN-T rail networks.

The report analysed specific sectoral trends for different transport modes. It looked at cars, heavy-duty vehicles, railways, aviation, maritime transport and inland waterways.

PURPOSE: to present a European strategy for low-emission mobility.

BACKGROUND: transport represents almost a quarter of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and is the main cause of air pollution in cities. Europe's answer to these challenges is an irreversible shift to low-emission mobility in terms of carbon and air pollutants.

The shift towards low-emission mobility has already started globally and its pace is accelerating. This shift, which has already started building on existing EU policies, should be accelerated through this strategy for low-emission mobility.

CONTENT: the Commission’s strategy aims to reduce emissions from the transport sector while meeting the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Regions and cities too will be major actors in delivering low-emission mobility solutions. Urban transport is responsible for 23% of EU's greenhouse gas emissions. Behavioural choices made by mobility users will determine how successful we will be.

The strategy’s objective is three-fold:

1) Improving the efficiency of the transport system : the Commission considered that in order to facilitate the transition to low-emission mobility and provide certainty for investors, the EU regulatory framework needs to change:

by making the best use of digital technologies : to this end, the Commission is working on a framework for the swift and coordinated deployment of such systems across the EU; by guaranteeing efficient pricing : across the EU, charging should move towards distance-based road charging systems based on actual kilometres driven, to reflect better the polluter-pays and user-pays principles. To that end, the Commission is developing standards for inter-operable electronic tolling systems in the EU, to facilitate access to markets for new tolling service providers and to reduce overall system costs. Moreover, the Commission will revise the Directive on the charging for lorries to enable charging also on the basis of carbon dioxide differentiation, and extend some of its principles to buses and coaches as well as passenger cars and vans; by promoting multi-modality by incentivising a shift towards lower emission transport modes such as inland waterways, short-sea shipping and rail and providing measures to develop domestic bus and coach services.

2) Scaling up the use of low-emission alternative energy for transport : transport in the EU still depends on oil for about 94% of its energy needs:

as part of the revision of the current legislation related to fuels and renewable energy , the Commission is examining how to provide a strong incentive to innovate in energies needed for the long-term decarbonisation. This could be done for example as an obligation for fuel suppliers to provide a certain share of renewable alternative energy, i.a. advanced biofuels and synthetic fuels; the EU supports the deployment of infrastructure for alternative fuels financially and through its stakeholder platforms. Based on the alternative fuels infrastructure Directive , by November 2016, Member States will design policy frameworks for rolling-out publicly available electric recharging points and natural gas filling stations, and optionally hydrogen filling stations. In order to achieve mass acceptance and deployment of electric vehicles, charging and maintenance infrastructure needs to become widely available throughout Europe; further effort should be made to foster the creation of an EU-wide electro-mobility services market , such as the cross-border interoperability of payments and the provision of real-time information on charging points. A common plug standard already exists for cars and standards for induction charging, batteries, and charging plugs for electric buses and motorbikes are next.

3) Moving forward towards zero-emission vehicles : the transformational change towards low- and zero-emission vehicles will need to be supported by a wide range of measures at all levels of policy-making to engage both manufacturers and users:

the Commission has made fundamental changes to how vehicle emissions are measured and verified . New 'real driving' emissions tests will now be implemented swiftly so that limit values for air pollutant emissions have a stronger impact on the ground and consumers can trust them again. A new global test procedure, the World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure, will be implemented to deliver more realistic and accurate carbon dioxide and fuel consumption values; it is necessary to further reduce emissions from conventional combustion engines after 2020 . Zero- and low-emission vehicles will need to be deployed and gain significant market share by 2030. The Commission is working on post-2020 carbon dioxide standards for cars and vans; in order to encourage customer uptake, the Commission aims to improve information through car labelling and on support through public procurement rules. Tax instruments are very effective to incentivise consumer behaviour; the EU will also need to introduce measures to actively curb carbon dioxide emissions from lorries, buses and coaches . Other parts of the world, such as the United States, China, Japan and Canada, have already introduced standards, and some European manufacturers participate in these schemes.

Global action : the EU is fully committed to reaching agreement on a Global Market-Based Mechanism to address international aviation emissions and achieve carbon neutral growth from 2020. It is also committed to securing a robust and mandatory global agreement for the collection and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) by the end of 2016.